PORTAGE, MI -- Portage's Woodland Elementary School Principal Mark Root and a half-dozen teachers flipped their wigs Tuesday -- so to speak -- all in the name of raising awareness about food allergies.

Tuesday was the final day of a fundraising drive that started Feb. 3 to raise money for Food Allergy Research Education, and it was announced that the campaign raised almost $1,700, slightly more than last year.

The students raised the money through a "Change War" -- decorated milk jugs were put in each classroom to collect change and more substantial cash donations for the cause.

Classrooms competed to see which could raise the most money, and Root and some of his teachers agreed to wear wigs Tuesday to promote the effort.

The competition was won by the second-grade classroom of Amanda Holzwarth, which raised $213.19.

Marianne Loso, who coordinated the event, said she was very pleased with the effort. She is the parent of a Woodland Elementary third-grader who has life-threatening food allergies.

"I am so proud to say our children attend Woodland and all of the support of the families in the hopes of finding a cure for food allergies," Loso said in an email to the Kalamazoo Gazette.